Sunday was the first day of August. Twenty years ago, that would have meant a newspaper bursting with retail flyers touting back-to-school specials featuring everything from clothing to school supplies to dorm room accessories. And though the (dwindling) number of newspaper subscribers likely did receive a paper filled with offers, the smartest back-to-school purveyors are now reaching consumers in an entirely different medium: mobile.
Why? Because mobile is the platform to reach the two key back-to-school demographics: Moms and Millennials (the youngest of whom are just heading off to college). According to Edison Research, smartphone penetration is higher among moms than the general population, and has become their essential tool. Nearly 90% of moms say they have their smartphone within reach always or most of the time, and 42% say its the first thing in their hand every morning. Among Millennials smartphone penetration is even higher – 85% of Millenials consume digital media on mobile devices, and 18% are mobile only, meaning the only way to reach them on a digital platform is through their phones.
Go read that last sentence again. The smartphone has become not only the main consumer communications device, it is becoming the preferred platform for research and transaction. According to the National Retail Federation, 37% of smartphone owners will use their device to research products, and 22% will follow-through to make purchases on their devices this back-to-school season. (For tablets, the numbers are even greater: 45% will use their device for research, while 31% will purchase.) In these waning weeks of summer, more moms than ever will be looking to multitask their back-to-school shopping obligations while trying to stretch out one more long-weekend or an afternoon by the pool.
Plenty of retailers are paying attention to mobile, though many brick-and-mortar entities are concerned more about show rooming (i.e. the practice of finding a better deal on an item online while standing in front of said item in a retail outlet). It’s time for these retailers to be more proactive when it comes to mobile as a marketing channel. Retail advertisers using a programmatic marketing operating system are able to target across all devices and mobile OS (Android or Apple), as well as across the various types of mobile inventory (in-app and mobile web). Whether the advertiser chooses to target by inventory, or by device, they’re sure to connect and engage with a purchase ready demographic when it matters most.
As the channel that’s always within reach, mobile is one of the most efficient and effective ways to reach consumers. It’s also the most flexible. Those retailers who already have an in-market mobile strategy would be wise to dial it up even more, and for those who don’t – back to school begins with mobile.
Below you will find best practices if you already have a mobile strategy in place and key recommendations if you don’t:
- Consider breaking out strategies for smartphones vs. tablets in order to see the performance differences and optimize accordingly!
- Make sure you’ve trafficked mobile-only sizes (e.g. 300×50, 320×50) as well as normal Display sizes (e.g. 300×250, 728×90) in order to run on ALL available mobile inventory, which includes Mobile-optimized sites as well as normal Mobile versions of sites.
-
Does your brand have an app? If so, consider optimizing your campaigns to App downloads.
- Consider a mobile campaign to capture this demand and measure success the same way you would for deep funnel desktop campaigns (ROI/CPA).
Key recommendation for those not already running mobile include:
- 44% of cell phone owners have slept with their phone next to their bed because they wanted to make sure they didn’t miss any calls, text messages, or other updates during the night, according to Pew Internet. Don’t miss that targeting opportunity; make sure your mobile strategies are active during the evenings and weekends.
- Capitalize with mobile by running ads on consumer product review sites and other contextually relevant publishers.